1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to pawl assemblies that may be used in latches or fasteners for doors, panels and the like. In particular, the pawl assemblies comprise an elongated pawl that is prevented from rotation on a shaft through the use of a specially adapted clip.
2. Background Of The Invention
Various types of pawl assemblies are known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,556,244, 4,583,775, 4,763,935 and 4,878,367 disclose assemblies in which a pawl is prevented from rotating on a shaft by providing a noncircular hole in the pawl that conforms to a noncircular cross-section of the shaft. Nuts are threaded on the shaft on either side of the pawl to fix the axial location of the pawl on the shaft. With this type of assembly, the number of different angular orientations of the pawl is limited by the shape of the shaft cross section and the corresponding shape of the hole in the pawl. For example, the assemblies disclosed in the above patents are limited to two angular pawl positions located 180.degree. apart due to the configuration of the shaft and through hole.
Another type of conventional assembly includes a pawl having a circular hole that may be threaded onto a bolt. Nuts are threaded on the bolt on each side of the pawl and are tightened against the pawl to prevent rotation thereof. This type of assembly suffers from the drawback that loosening of the nuts may cause unwanted rotation of the pawl. Furthermore, for a given angular orientation of the pawl, axial location is dictated by the increments of the thread pitch, allowing for less precise axial positioning of the pawl.
An additional type of known assembly comprises a pawl having a circular hole that is threaded on a bolt, with an additional bolt threaded through the base of the pawl to contact the first bolt. Once the pawl is located on the first bolt in the desired position, the second bolt is tightened to prevent axial and rotational movement. This type of assembly requires a machining operation on the pawl in order to form a threaded hole in the base. In addition, the thickness of the pawl must be increased to accommodate the threaded hole.
The present invention has been developed in view of the foregoing and to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art.